Internal-combustion engine vaporizing attachment



Nav. 20, 1923. v 3,474,665

" L L, ln'nsnm INTERNAL CQMBUSTION ENGINE VAPORIZING ATTACHMENT Filed DeC. 9, 1921 5555 attac Patented Nov. 20,' 1923.

-LOUIS L. PATTERSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

,l "INTERNAL-consumen ENGINE veromzme ATTACHMENT.

.Application tiled December 9,` 1921. Serial No; 521,097.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Loms'L. PATTERSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, have inlvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Internal-Combustion Engine Vaporizing Attachments, of which the followmgisa-specitication. J his invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to the means employed for supplyin g the fuel thereto. As iswell known, it has been proposed -to collect the liquid fuelprecipitated in the intake manifold, and tovaporize this liquid fuel and again discharge it into the intake manifold', so that the hea oil thus collected will be saved and used asvfiiel for the engine, and whereb the heavy oil thusv precipitated from the e1 mixture will be prevented entering the engine. However, the means proposed for this purpose have necessitated the building ofaspecial formL of 'manifold, and 4the provision of Sonie other special means. Generally stated, therefore, the object -oi the invention is to provide an im roved construction and arrangement where forlthis pur ose, adapted to be heated by the exhaust rom the en ine, thereby to va.-

p'orize heavy oil or liqui fuel the intake manifold, may be applied to an 'engine having anl ordinary manifold construction, thus obviating the necessit of buildingaspecially 4designed manifol for 3 5 th'e engine, and permitting the invention to be applied as an attachment t9 anengine having the usual or ordinary mani-fold construction. f-

It' is also an object to provide certain de- 40 tails 'and lfeatures'of construction and'co'mbinations tending to increase ithegenerlei4 eiciency andthe desirability o f an'attachment of this' particular character for vaporizing the liquid fuel which is precipitated' 45, from the fuel mixture before entering the engine and for discharging'. the fuelA thus vaporized; into the intake 'manifoldfof the.

engine. f

To these and other useful fende, the invenl5 0' tion consists ofimatters hereinafter set forth and claimed andshown in the accompanying -.drawings, which are illustrative ofone'form of the invention and in which,'

` Fi 1 `is a front elevation'of a vaporizing mentembodying the principles of the y a heater collected from.4

invention, showing the method of attachin the device to the manifold 'construction o the kind found on an ordinary internal compustin engine, theconstruction being.illusrate ders and to engines of different kinds without departing from the spirit of the inven-' tion. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view vshowing one of the collecting means or trapswhich are interposed between the in' for an engine having only two cylinl' d ers, and it being understood that the inven-,I tion is applicable to-any-number of cylinshown,lmay be of any approved'.` construction.

designed for two cylinders, but vit 4will be understood. as previously st-ated, that this is merely for convenicnce'bf illustration.'

and that the invention number of cylinders.

that the invention may tachment to an engine manifold construction, necessity of changing or designing a specially formed manifold constructiommeans are interposed between the engine 1 and the is applicable -to any In order,therefore be applied as an uthaving an ordinaryv ends 4 of the intake manifold to collect the liquid fuel before it has passed in to the enine. For this purpose, therefore, the manithus obviating the old is simply taken olf and set outa dis-y tance from -the.engine, and the heads 5' are placed in position as shown, the manifold from the engine, these hea s beingat andring-like' in form and'groovcd inside at 6, and provided on their lower sides with depending portions 7 for connection with thevtubesS which feed the liquid fuel tothe heater 9, which forms a part of the invention. 'as the one shown in Fifr. 2, are interposed in each joint thus formed between the. engine 'and the intake manifold, each of said sheet- -metal elements having a vertical retaining flange 1 0 which is clamped by the head 5to The sheet-metal elements. such l the engine, and'having a contracted tubular portion 11 which extends through the head 5 and into or approximately to the adjacent end of the intake manifold, so that the 4groove 6 forms a trap for collecting the the 'maximum point of precipitation",v the point where the liquid fuel is most liable to collect, is just where. the intake manifold turns to enter the-engine, and the invention, it will be seen, is designed with' reference to this. The heater 9-is cylindrical. in form, and has its axis horizontally disposed, but is provided with a threaded boss 12 which is screwed-into' Vthe lower portion .or riser .13 -of the intake I manifold. Said .heater is formed with an inner chamber 14, and withL an outer exhaust chamber 15, passages 16 ex- Ater'idingithrou li the outer chamber from the tube 8 to discharge the collected liquid fuel. into the' inner chamber 14, Where it is then vaporzed.

The outer-end of the vaporizing chamber 14 has a closure in the form of a screwthreaded plug 17, the outer-faY of the cham- "ber 15 has a'scre'w cap 18 which permits access Ato the exhaust chamber. In applying the invention l to an ordinaryiiianifold construction, a hole is tapped into the exhausi manifold 3, and a screw-threadedconnection 20 is inserted therein. The top of the heater 9 has a boss 21, and this is connected by a pipe 22 with the elbow connection 20, this 'pi pe being held in*- place .in a suitable or desiied manner, as by cotter pins 23 and 24 to facilitate connection and disconnection when such is necessary or desirable. The heater has a boss 25 on the lowerside thereof for the pipe 26 by which the exhaust. is discharged. l

Fromthe foregoing it will be seen that exhaust passes through the chamber 15 and. thereby heats the chamber 14 to the desired temperature for vaporizing heavy oil orlliquid fuel. The traps formed in part by the grooves 6 catch the heavy oil or irecipitated liquid fuel, and the liquid thu's collected iows downwardly through the stems 7 of the head 5 and through the tubes 8 to the vaporizing chamber 14 of the heater. 'llieliqiiid fuel" thus collected is vapoiizeil and discharged through the connection l2V into the intake manifold 2, and is then allowed to pass into the engine. Thus a large part ot' .the 4fuel that is ordinarily wasted is saved, and in addition vheavy oil and liquid is prevented from enterin the engine, thus very obviously se curing etter results in theoperat-ion'oic the engine. A l

h e vaporizing attachment can be taken off, if it'bccomes desirable not to use it, by removin the traps from between the intake manifol and the engine, and by disconnect- `ported on the engine in any suitable or deving theeXhauSt connection 2O fromA the eX- haust manifold, and by unserewing the boss 12 from tlie intake manifold. Screw plugs can then be inserted in the threaded holes thus formed in' the two manifolds, and in that lway themanifold construction will be practically the saine as it was before the in- Vention was applied thereto. It will be understood'that the intake manifold 2 is supL 5 sired manner, so that the heads 5 andthe flanges 10 are clamped tightly in place, thus providing tight joints at these points. When the attachment is in use, the plug 17 can be removed to permit access to the chamber 14 for the purpose of priming .the engine, if necessary or desirable, in a manner `that will be readily understood. The e'x-f haust chamber 15 can be cleaned by -re'inoving the screw cap 18 to permit access thereto. 85 Thus the two closures are concentric to the' axis ofthe cylindrical heater.

vWhat I claiin as 'my invention is l. ln vcombination ivi'h an internal com? bustion engine having an intakemanifold lv.and an exhausthrnanifold, aheater to vapor' v ize liquid fuel, meansl interposed between the .engine and the intake manifold'to collect -the liquid. fuel., means. to feed the' liquid fuel l I from said collecting means to saidlieater, a 9 5 connection from the exhaust-manifold to .said heater, and a connection to discharge',

the vaporized ,fuel from said heater into said intake manifold.

2. A structureas specified in claim'l,"said collecting means comprising a trap foriiied with a head for insertion between the intake manifold and the engine; and with a depende ing feed tube connection, so that the heater may be applied to an' engine having an ordinary manifold construction.

3. .A structure as specilied in claim'l, coinprisiiig a sheet metal eleii'ient disposed iii the joint between the engine and the intake manifold and 'formingpart of said collecting means. i

4. A structure as specilied in claiiii 1, said.- heater being screwed into the iiitake'inanifold, aiid said exhaust connection being -tapped'intoV ilieexhaust manifold, so that 1 15 the heater is applicable to an engine liai'ingj an ordinary manifold construction. d

5. Lngoiiibination with an internal coinliustiiii engine having a manifold construc-A ros tion therefor,.a heater to vapoiize liquid fuel 129 'collecicdoi' precipitated from tlie fuel inixfor-discharging the vaporized liquid from 12:5

the heater into the intake manifold, and a connection for utilizing the exhaustto heat .said vaporizing heater, all forming an' attachment which is readily removable iii its.

entirety from the manifold construction, so 1.39

' y www that the manifold may be used either with Aor,

and an exhaust manifold, means interposed-- between the engine and the intake-manifoldto collect the liquid fuel, spacing the manifold a distance from the engine, means to feed the iiquid fuel from said collecting means, and a rexzeptacle to receive the' liquid from said feeding means'.

7. A. structure as specified jin claim 6, said spacing and collecting mens comprising a trap formed with a head for insertion between the intake manifold and the engine, and with a depending feed tube connection, so that the collecting means may be applied to an engine having an ordinary manifold construction.

8. A'structure as specied in ciaim 6, com prising a sheet metai element disposed in the joint between the engine and the intake manifold and forming part of said ool1ecting means.

LOUIS L. PATTERSON.' i 

